By Charles Jay
The West Virginia Mountaineers are known for being a very wide-open offensive team. On Monday afternoon, however, they will try to beat the NCAA football odds without their starting quarterback, as they take on the Texas A&M Aggies in the Liberty Bowl, with action kicking off at 2 PM ET in Memphis.
Clint Trickett, the Florida State transfer who has had five concussions as a player, has finally decided that enough is enough, as has announced his retirement from football. So head coach Dana Holgorsen will have to go with Skyler Howard, a sophomore who brings some different qualities to the table than Trickett. A&M, of course, made the switch to freshman Kyle Allen a while back and feel they are the better for it.
Both of these teams are 7-5 straight-up; West Virginia is also 7-5 against the football pointspread, while A&M is 4-8 against the number. The Aggies have covered just one of their last eight games.
In the NCAA football odds that have been established on this game at Vietbet, West Virginia is the slight home favorite:
West Virginia Mountaineers -1.5
Texas A&M Aggies +1.5
Over 65 points -110
Under 65 points -110
Texas A&M had a major adjustment this season, as they had to deal with the loss of Johnny Manziel, the former Heisman Trophy winner, and after the season opener, they figured they had a solution with sophomore Kenny Hill, who threw for 511 yards against South Carolina. At the time they were talking about Hill being a Heisman candidate and the Aggies, after five straight wins, were in the top ten.
Then things came crashing down for this squad. They suffered decisive defeats at the hands of Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Alabama (a 59-0 score). After that game, Hill was suddenly cited for a “violation of team rules” and replaced by Allen, who was arguably the top high school recruit in the country at his position. Allen has proceeded to complete 61% of his passes with twelve touchdown passes. And he helped lead an upset of Auburn, which was #3 in the nation at the time, as a 23.5-point underdog in the NCAA football odds.
Vietbet customers who have followed the careers of the two coaches here remember that Holgorsen was the offensive coordinator for A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, back when Sumlin was the head man at Houston. So these guys are very familiar with the way the other does business.
But with Howard there might be something unexpected, because he can take off and run with it. In limited action thus far, he has five TD passes without an interception. And he may just have the best receiver on the field in Kevin White, who has caught 102 passes on the season.
West Virginia might have to be given the big edge on defense. Their secondary has not given up a second-half touchdown pass, and they have held opponents to just 31% third down conversions. That is the ninth best figure in the country.
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